‘Fresh Prince Of Bel Air’ Actress Janet Hubert Tears Apart Will Smith Over The Oscars And The Internet Comes In Hard

Janet Hubert, who played the original Aunt Vivian on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, used this video to go in hard on Will Smith. This speech arrives after Jada Pinkett Smith hinted at a boycott on Twitter. Jada didn’t like the lack of diversity from the past few crops of Oscar nominations, and she was also upset at Will’s perceived snub for Concussion. This omission aligns itself with the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag and can also be observed through the Straight Outta Compton producer, who wrote a powerful letter to the Academy.

Jada thought declining to participate in the Oscars ceremony would work an effect. Spike Lee took things further by officially confirming he wouldn’t attend, and he looked at the larger picture by criticizing the lack of diversity among those who get movies made. Lee’s not simply concerned with the awards, but what’s going on at the studio level. Whereas Jada (and perhaps Will) is focused upon the recognition that the awards present. Perhaps Jada meant to communicate the same sentiments as Lee, but it’s hard to do so in 140 characters or less.

Attagirl Aunt Viv. She’s spot on. Black Americans need to stop looking at the Black Oligarchy for answers…they’ve already made it to the top. They wont help solve the major issues facing black Americans today. They’ll just use their turmoil for talking points and movie productions.

Aunt Vic is just finally happy that she had something relevant to say about Will. She has hated him for a very long time so now that she was able to take her evil jab at him and his wife, she went for it. Bitter much? The show has been over for how long? Move on.

This seems incredibly petty and still speaks to the pent up anger she has for the fallout from her time on that show….which did lead to her being blackballed to a large degree in Hollywood (to have public issues with Will Smith right before he goes Supernova in the 90s will do that for you)………………..but she is also right in this case (to a degree). Jada’s stance does not seem as wholesome as Spike’s….and the other points she mentioned are on point (do you dismiss the messenger if the message is on point?)

Spike’s stance isn’t wholesome either. As has been written on other outlets that aren’t solidly cuddled up in PC liberal land, the majority of black actors and actresses in Hollywood take roles in movies that aren’t traditional award winners. So there’s already a major disadvantage just by sheer numbers in the award-circuit films. Then you have the few examples out there that might have deserved a nomination, and when you look at them, it’s completely ok to think the performance wasn’t worthy of a nomination, and it has nothing to do with race. The best actors were all deserving, and of course Redmayne was going to be nominated because of the role he chose. He chose an award-winning role.

Will chose one too, but I happen to agree that he wasn’t fantastic in that role and it isn’t deserving of a nom this year…especially over the others on the list.

You could argue Elba and Michael B Jordan, and I’d even say they would be deserving, but if they are just 2 dudes and we aren’t nominating based on color, I wouldn’t think there was some huge injustice that they were left out.

You can argue it’s an institutional issue in Hollywood that limits black actors from having award winning roles, and I’d welcome that discuss and the merits to it.

But the broad brush that Spike and Jada paint is inaccurate, and only serves to hurt not only the prospects of black actors/actresses going forward, but once again puts us down a path of feeling we must nominate them because they are black, not based on their merits. And that hurts the entire system, and is not the equality that great men like Dr. King were fighting for.

If all the black actors in Hollywood took a year off, and the only movie featuring black actors made during the year was Scary Movie 8, people would still be complaining that Marlon Wayans got snubbed by the racist Academy.

Do you want to be nominated for your performance, or your skin color. Because it’s kinda confusing right now.

They’re either smart enough to realize they’re selling their image not their talent or they’re dumb enough to believe they’re a shining light in a dark world. Self aware enough to understand the personal benefits of getting one, or out of touch enough to believe they’re winning because everyone recognizes the most talented person of their craft.

They’re either smart/self aware enough to realize the whole thing is a game and there are a bunch of personal benefits of winning an award. Or they’re dumb/out of touch enough to think they’re receiving the award as recognition that they are the best, most talented person in their craft. Either way they accept the award in more or less the same way– say how you couldn’t have done it by yourself, touch on a popular current event and thank a higher power, either a god or Harvey Weinstein.

@AddMayne They care because being able to say “Grammy Nominated” or “Oscar Nominated” comes with a pay boost. In all entertainment fields there is usually a barrier to top pay and it’s usually behind some committee.

Having the committee of your field acknowledge you comes with many benefits, so it’s another reason to not pay you as much if you don’t have it.

SO, if the mostly-white committee is not nominating Black people regularly and using it to justify paying Black actors less, I think it’s valid that they ‘complain’ about it. Just as you would if some higher up you don’t get to appeal to denies your raise and gives you no reason.

Not that my opinion means shit here being as I am a white male, but this seemed like a case of Jada Pinkett being right for the wrong reasons. Lots of talented black directors and actors got snubbed this year – Idris Elba, Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Coogler, just to name the most egregious – but Will Smith wasn’t one of them. That being said, “Tell the truth!” is the lamest trailer line I’ve heard since Leo’s “bling bang” in Blood Diamond, and he actually got an Oscar nom for that. So, I dunno, if Leo got an undeserved Oscar nom for that, maybe Will Smith deserves an undeserved nom for Concussion. It’s quite a paradox. I’m okay with saying the oscars are racist as hell though.

This issue seems to be fueled by bad arguing over good points. Everyone is harping over the fact that there are no nominations for black people, while apparently the bigger issue is the staggering lack of diversity in the academy’s voting population. Also, the push for Chris Rock to drop out as host is ridiculous. Why make the most visible possible advocate of the cause abandon his platform? How does that help?

jada pinkett smith has her head so far up her ass it’s silly. If anyone saw that recent interview she did with her daughter talking about how she tries to balance motherhood with her own personal dreams, youll know what im talking about

Mr Smith probably should have taken that ID2 part instead of snubbing his nose at it and going for this barely even heard of movie. Seems he got snubbed back. Stick to what made you. Probably would have gotten a nomination then. She’s right about this being something stupid to worry over. A statue to validate who you are? How about use your name to help get messages out about saving the youth community of Black children. Or maybe retraining Police officers on how it is their job to protect everyone and not kill them. Pulling their guns should be the last thing they do. But no they are being high and mighty and want that statue. Man America needs some real change. What happened to us. To much complaining and not enough actual action. Stop being offended by every little thing and get a sense of humor. Come together as a nation instead of separating the races because everything is offensive. Did everyone forget that Dr King fought and lost his life so that we could be a nation of peace and integration. If history is not learned we are doomed to repeat it. Please don’t let his message die. Otherwise he died for nothing. He was for us all to be united. Not just for the rights of one race.

smh u think ID2 is what would get will smith an oscar? you slow aint you.
the statue isnt about validation, its about income. you get that statue, doors open, you get influence and money and a lil bit of power to carve your own path as an actor.
the ticket sales are the validation.
straight outta compton sold out theaters, thats the validation that a great movie was made, a nomination wouldve guaranteed those same actors that acted so well in those movies would get more opportunities to get roles in movies of their choice, or even their creation. it opens doors for more than just the actor winning the award.
and the issue overall is diversity, not the snubbing of black actors, the snubbing of every actor thats not white.